When you recognize that not all issues are life-threatening, then you can lower the intensity of the “Amygdala Hijack” in terms of fight or flight and instead work towards developing mutual understanding, trust, respect, and shared goals and solutions.

A terror truck plows into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France killing at least 84–many of which are children!

How many terror attacks do we have to undergo before someone wakes up and does something?

I watched Judge Jeanine express outrage on Fox News video about what is going on with radical Islamist terrorism across the globe.

Moreover, there is spiraling inner-city violence here at home with presumed racial killings of black people and the murder of 5 police officers in Dallas, Texas and more warnings about a Day of Rage in 36 cities today.

Things are out of control!

OMG, the list of terrorist attacks just this year alone in 2016 is so long that wikipedia had to break them up into separate lists by month.

Some still can’t get up the courage or leadership skills to identify the enemy.

After 9/11, we overreacted with almost 10-years of war, lashing out at enemies real and imagined, and now for the last years, we have become disengaged and withdrawn–either too afraid, unwilling, or ridiculously “political correct” to defend our own national security.

The pendulum has swung wild and reckless for too many years…it is time for a normal and balanced course of action to protect our people and country–can anyone say radical Islamists? 😉

So on July 4th, I wrote and did a short video about how messed (f*cked) up things are in the world today (of course, technology-aside), and I advocated for people being a good influence and for constructive change.

On the positive side, I saw this neat bumper sticker to “Unf*ck The World,” and I checked out their website utwnow.org.

It was impressive to see people advocating for, banding together, and engaging to do good things to help others such as assist the homelessness by giving them haircuts, doing laundry, providing “mobile hygiene,” and helping with a thrift shop and job opportunities.

In contrast again, it was interesting in the Wall Street Journal today, there was an editorial on how Brexit (Britian leaving the EU) has nothing on Amexit (America’s disengagement from global affairs).

Around the world, there is cause for not only pause, but great concern.

– From allowing Syria to cross the red line in using chemical weapons (on civilians!) to the recommendation to not charge the former First Lady, we are in moral and leadership retreat.

– Russia takes over Crimea and agitates in Eastern Ukraine and the Baltics, while China continues its island buildup in the strategic South China Sea.

– ISIS continues to hold ground across the Middle East and Northern Africa and attacks targets literally everywhere in the world and routinely takes, enslaves, and sells women to the highest bidder on the Internet.

– North Korea and Iran test ballistic missiles, and nukes are a forgone conclusion for them.

– South America and Europe are in economic and political turmoil with varying degrees of recessions, runaway inflation, shortages, impeachment proceedings, voter recalls, and fractioning.

– The U.S. is struggling to maintain its leadership role as we fluctuate between recognizing the dire need and pulling back all around.

In the election cycle, I think just about every single person I have heard from now says in near hopelessness something like, “If only there was another candidate that I could vote for.”

What we can do locally to help–and certainly there is a lot more to do there with poverty and homelessness–perhaps people can do nationally and globally in demanding more–not material things, but rather a real caring about others and not just ourselves, a genuine discourse on policy and not just punch lines for the next election or media soundbite, a solutions-oriented mindset rather than a gaming the system one, and a big vision to settle the stars, cure vicious diseases, pull everyone out of poverty, and resolve endless cycles of global conflicts.

Do you hear much of anything on this these days and is anyone taking the high ground or is it just who is more crooked and untrustworthy–this cannot be the answer. 😉

Of course, we’re going to Syria not to actually engage the enemy, but more to dare Russia whose deployed there with planes, tanks, ships, artillery, and Spetsnaz special forces to hit us.

Similarly, after Russia’s incursion into Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, we conduct a training exercise with 3,000 troops in the Baltics and put together a NATO rapid reaction force in Europe and call it day, as if that will deter the “Great Bear.”

Oh, and don’t forget that we sent a single battle ship within 12 nautical miles of the South China Sea artificial islands–again, daring them to try something.

Well what if one of these days Russia or China actually took up the dare?

If we did that to Russia, what do you think they would’ve done–our fighters would’ve been shot down so fast, we wouldn’t have known what hit us–like when they did the Blitzkrieg into Ukraine and recently into Syria–we’re taken off guard again and again.

– Raining missiles down on cities and digging terror tunnels under borders…well their aim isn’t so good and the tunnels took them a lot of hard work.

– Bombing and shooting up pizzerias, cafes, clubs, hotels, stores, buses, weddings, funerals, and houses of worship…what can you do–it’s a cycle of violence!

– Hacking off limbs, axing and stabbing attacks… of course, a legitimate airing of grievances.

– Flying airplanes into skyscrapers…it was a plot for the Crusaders to invade our lands.

– Building nukes and other weapons of mass destruction along with ballistic missiles, drones, and suitcase bombs to deliver the payload…well, you can’t put the knowledge back in the bottle!

More excuses from the political peanut gallery:

Are we just war-weary, being lazy, fearful, hiding out and putting our heads in the sand for a while, focused on other pressing domestic issues, pivoting east, in need of a better strategy, rooting for and helping the other (wrong/evil) side, a little delusional as to our own national and homeland security here, or perhaps, have some seriously gone off the (rational) deep end?

Appeasement, disengagement, and withdrawal…vice leadership.

How do we explain this type of insane, immoral world to our children and is this really the type of sick and treacherous world we want to leave to them?

Oh yes, it’s so comfortable and cushy where we are–there is nothing for us to worry about–or is there? 😉

Instead, Russia has jumped into the driver’s seat, and we’re not coming out looking too good on the world stage.

– In 2013 they took in and continue to shelter Edward Snowden, the former CIA employee who ran to Hong Kong after allegedly leaking oodles of NSA classified information.

– In 2014, Russia conducted a blitzkrieg and took Crimea from sovereign Ukraine (giving it a strategic port in the Black Sea), and are conducting a separatist war in the eastern part of the country.

– In 2015, Russia enters the Syrian crisis and allies themselves with dictator, Bashar Al Assad (who has used chemical weapons on his own people), as well as with Iran and Iraq.

– Additionally, Russia is taking the lead role in the oil and mineral rich Arctic bolstering their presence and militarizing, including building new ice-breakers (while our Coast Guard has only one operational).

Some people have said mockingly, “Well what should we do, start a war with Russia?”

And the answer is an unequivocal, no.

But I assume they don’t want to start a war with the U.S. either.

Rather, this is the Cold War Part II, where we are fighting by proxy in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Arctic.

If we want the world to be modeled on freedom, human rights, and democracy then we need to be able to stand up for those things that are important to us.

Yes, we have to care about what’s going on here at home too, but we don’t live in a bubble, although surrounded by oceans on the east and west coast, we can sometimes easily feel that way.

It’s a big world–and it takes tremendous leadership to bring it along a good and noble path.

The leadership role will not stay vacant for long…it can be us if we want it, or else you might as well flip a coin on either Russia or China. 😉